Recently, Listened to a podcast that got me to thinking about peer review in Chemistry. Many of the people I meet are so concerned about being an author of a set number of publications as a basis for completing their degree and for being considered a candidate for subsequent positions.

discussion that brings up the motivations for publishingin scientific journals, replication, hypothesis testing

and peer review.

It is instructive perhaps to get an idea what happenswhen an article is submitted for publication. ACS andRoyal Society have tutorials on what is involved web sites describing the process. … assuming it works properly.

The professional scientific process depends on this. Justlike general publication conclusions errors can happen andnegative results are most often not presented.

Science is a slow process that involves error corrections,application and refinement. Perfect peer review will not